


Devils Work

by Ccodyfern



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Apocalypse
Genre: Abusive tendencies, F/M, Manipulation, Suicide mentions, slow burner
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 06:33:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18686062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ccodyfern/pseuds/Ccodyfern
Summary: You’re working for  Kineros Robotics when a new guy comes into the picture and switches things up. You’re not the fondest of him, but could that change under the right circumstances?





	1. Chapter 1

“Mom, i’m leaving for work.” you screamed into the living room, peaking in to find her passed out on the couch. Your eyes scanned her sleeping figure and sighed, her drunken state must have caused the slumber. You picked up the beer bottles on the table, throwing them out quickly before running out.

You’d gotten the job at the Robotics company through some old friends, just working a receptionist/secretary of some sort. Jeff and Mutt had been very successful in their robotics business. They were weird, but you tried to pay as little attention as possible, just doing your job and your job only. Some rumors had circulated of them practicing in the dark arts, but you never had the courage to really ask them. It had been a little under 2 years since you’d started, but you quickly got the hang of things and they liked you so it was just the right fit. 

//

You looked over at the computer, reminding yourself of the things the office had going on that day. The only thing on your calendar read  _Michael Langdon-11:30am –_

You’d remembered that phone call you had gotten just a few days earlier, an older woman frantically trying to get to Jeff and Mutt, but they’d been out of the office. She carried on about how they shouldn’t keep this Langdon man waiting, and spewed off some other ungodly things. You rolled your eyes and reminded her that they only saw people with appointments. And now it’s the day of, you nervously awaited the man she spoke so highly of. 

You had done some secret stalking of your own, curious of the man. You googled everything you could, finding nothing on this man. He basically didn’t exist, which made you ever more nervous to meet him. 

//

11:30 on the dot, your head rose as you heard the tapping of heeled shoes walking in. Your heart jumped at the intimidating sight, he towered over your desk, blonde short curls framing his face, his blue eyes skimmed the room taking everything in before they laid to rest on you. 

“Hello, I’m Michael Langdon.” his voice rang confidently, you fixed yourself in your seat; feeling yourself become somewhat uncomfortable for a reason you hadn’t quite known. 

“Yes, we’ve been uh-expecting you!” you stuttered through your sentence, nervously fidgeting. 

He had seemed to notice, looking down at your thumbs twiddling, and then looking back up at your eyes. His head titled as his eyes scrunched slightly,

“You’re nervous?” he questioned innocently, almost surprised at your action. You half smiled, your mind racing thinking of anything to say, your mouth trying to find any words to put together–he shook his head at you raising his hand up insinuating you didn’t have to answer the question. 

“What shall i call you?” he replaced his old question with this one, one that you could easily answer. 

“I’m y/n” finally, something you could answer confidently. He walked closer, grabbing one of your hands and lifting it to his lips, kissing the back of it. 

“It’s a pleasure meeting you” he knew how to make an impression. You snapped your hand away, blinking nervously at the man standing in front of you, until Jeff saved the day and greeted him. 

“MY MAN!! we have been  _dying_  to meet you over here! i see you’ve met y/n, lovely as ever. Come on in, let’s talk more” Jeffs obnoxious voice echo’d throughout the room, you looked back at your computer, thankful you can be taken out of this situation. 

You felt Michaels eyes on you, even when jeff had come out. You wouldn’t look back at him, not wanting to encourage the behavior. You let out a deep breath as he began walking out of the room, following jeff into their work room. You wiped the back of your hand on your skirt, shivering at the idea of his lips being anywhere on your body. 

//

You didn’t know what it was about Michael that you didn’t enjoy, such a small amount of time you’d met, but you couldn’t get the experience out of your head. You were more than intuitive, your gut feelings were strong and you always listened, and this time your gut was telling you this guy was bad news. 

He’d been speaking with your bosses for no more than 15 minutes, your head spun to the direction of the blood curdling scream. You jumped out of your skin, rushing out of your seat to open the door. You ran through the work room, trying to find the source of the noise. 

You sensed yourself getting closer, tip toeing lowly, yours eyes fell upon michael just as the lights started to flicker and you nervously ran behind anything you could. You hid behind a large machine, gathering your bearings as the lights came back on. 

You faintly heard  _hail satan_  as you watched jeff and mutt sink to the ground. What was going on? your mind though to all the rumors you once heard about them being satanists. Was michael one too? were they just in one of their sketchy meetings? You searched the room for a woman, wondering what the source of the scream was. You didn’t put it past mutt to scream like a girl, but it just didn’t make any sense. Whatever it was, you didn’t want to stick around and find out.

You began tip toeing back out of the room, not moving far until you slipped and fell on your ass with a loud  _boom_. You didn’t have much time to think, nervously trying to get back on your feet. You laid your skirt flat, dusting yourself off, it looks like you slipped on some…ashes?

A confused expression spread throughout your face, wondering what this could have been from. You’d just cleaned the room last night,  _what_?-

Your thoughts interrupted when you looked up to find all eyes on you. Including  _his_. You looked at Jeff and Mutt, their faces scrunched up nervously, eyeing both you and michael. You awkwardly smiled, slowly walking backwards,-

Michael kept his eyes on you yet again, walking into the room you were regretfully in. Looking you up and down, licking the inside of his lip. 

“Nosy one, are you?” his smile from ear to ear, hands behind his back.

“N-no, i just heard a scream.” you answered honestly, looking anywhere but at him. Your heart beating stronger than ever, he chuckled at your response. The pit in your stomach told you to run away, but you stayed. He hummed, looking satisfied with how you acted around him. He lifted his hand, running his fingertips along the side of your face,

“I’m not sure what you’ve heard, or saw- but i would advise next time…just knock.” his hands meeting your chin, bringing your face up so you had to look at him. 

You met his hand with yours, grabbing his wrist and removing it from your face. His face lit up, surprised you’d do such a thing. He didn’t mind someone challenging him, he saw the look of nervousness in your eyes. It only made him curious,- curious to see what other emotions he could get that out of you. 

Without another word, Michael began walking back to Jeff and Mutt, ridding you of his presence. 

“I’m sorry, Mr. Langdon.” you apologized, feeling the need to say it. 

He turned slightly, his curls bouncing as he did so.

“No need to apologize, just clean up the mess.” he looked down at the pile of ashes that were scattered on the ground, then back up at you with a slight wink. It was as if your heart stopped right there. Was he just odd, or was he really trying to flirt with you. Either way you were disgusted, the feeling he made you feel even when he wasn’t in the room worried you. It was a darkness you couldn’t put your finger on. Watching his long coat sway as he was walking away, you couldn’t help but notice the still shocked looks on Jeff and Mutts face. 

This lit a fire under your ass, wanting to know as much as possible about this mysterious man. You had so much going on at home with your mother, it was a miracle anything other than that was now on your mind. You invited the obsession in, you had to figure out who or… _what_  Michael Langdon was. 


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a few weeks since the incident between you and Michael, and Michael’s leadership when it came to this office only grew. It was as if you weren’t taking orders from Jeff or Mutt anymore, it was only ever Michael. He even had his own office, constantly putting you on odd tasks. The whole environment of the office changed, everybody was kissing his ass. Not you, though. You couldn’t be bothered by his facade of being this big tough guy. 

Him on the other hand, took a liking to you, something about your snarky rebuttals, and fierce attitude kept him on his toes. He clearly wasn’t upset someone had the balls to stick up to him, he had just come to understand who he was and what he can get people to do, it was nice being treated normally by someone. Even if that someone hated him. 

“Have you got the information I asked you for?” the formal voice coming from your right made your head turn, Langdon had been leaning against his office door, black attire from head to toe as always. 

“Yes, here’s the file.” you grabbed it from one side of your desk and threw it to the side closest to him, beckoning him over. He let out a low chuckle, fixing his posture as he stood exactly where he was. 

“Can you please bring it to me, Y/N” his smirk evident as he crossed his arms, knowing he would get a rise out of you. His eyes skimmed your face as you sternly looked over at him, huffing at his request. You raised your eyebrows and matched his smirk. 

“You have legs, don’t you…” you gulped out, trying not to let him see your nerves. You know there was something mysterious about him, and that everyone else here was scared of him. You had to admit you joined the fear train, but your ego was just too big to show it. 

His smile fell as you said the words, taking a deep breath in as he walked over to get the file. And all too fast you knew that was a bad idea, he didn’t just take the file and go, he stood next to you, hand on your shoulder, opening up the file and skimming through it.  _Dammit_ , you didn’t want him sticking around like this.

As he was reading, you heard him hum in approval at certain things, your eyes wondered up to his face, concentrating on the file. You wanted to know why he had you pull so much information on one person, you were a robotics company, it’s like once this guy came into the picture everything changed. It was all different, you answered to Michael now, and all this robot business was in the past. 

“Why do you need this information, Mr. Langdon?” you knew you shouldn’t be asking, not wanting to be too pushy, only wanting to be more in the loop. But it was as if you didn’t even ask him a question, he didn’t answer you, only moving his hand from your shoulder to your back, rubbing small and gentle circles, almost in a comforting way. Your right mind told you to shoo him away, but you didn’t mind it, not in the moment at least. 

“Please- call me Michael.” he finally took a break from reading the file to look down at you, halting is hand on your back. 

“None of what I ask of you is your business, you do as your told, and ask no questions, just like everyone else here, y/n” his voice still calm, although what he was saying made your eyes widen with intimidation, he couldn’t have said it more politely, making the words even more fearful for you. 

You didn’t know how to answer him, finally letting the nerves get to you, you looked straight back down at your desk, knowing if you looked at him he would read you like a book. 

You felt him lean down, now below you, he swung your chair around so that you were forced to face him, his hand sitting on your knee, you still didn’t have the nerve to look at him. Your face slightly to the side, trying to find anything but him to look at. And he wouldn’t be tolerating that any longer, as brought his hand up to your face, cupping your chin to pull your face towards him. 

“And next time I ask for a file, please– hand it to me… _personally_.” the words dripped off his tongue as he let go of your face and stood back up, grabbing the file in his hand. Your chair still spun to his direction, you were too scared to say anything else. Something about him could make the strongest of men falter. And he smoothly walked back to his office, a smile on his face as he kept his eyes on you as he closed his door,  _slowly_. 

//

You kicked off your shoes, finally home after a long day at the office. The company used to be your getaway from home, now it’s like you were as scared there as you were home. Your mother wasn’t any help, you had to pay most of the bills, and even the bills she paid she could never get them in on time. You loved her, since she was your mother, but sometimes it’s hard to love your blood when they treat you so badly. You knew as a single mother she tries her best, and you try to put all the bad things she says to you and does to you to the back of your mind, trying to find some good in her. Trying so hard to not cut her off. It’s like every single time you were at your end, she manipulated you back to her, you were frightened if you ever left she’d kill herself, maybe that’s the only reason you stay, maybe you stay because hurt is the only thing you know. 

“y/n, i’m in the kitchen” you heard your mom scream out, you lazily made your way there, rolling your eyes at the mess she neglected to clean. It’s like no matter how many times you told her, she made the same god damn mistakes. 

“So you didn’t go to work today?” you questioned her, she was supposed to be at work till 8, but it’s 6:30. She’d constantly call out, sleep in, drink, smoke, leave the house a total mess for when you had to come home and clean up after her. 

“No, but i don’t feel well!! so i had to.” another excuse. 

“You haven’t felt well in 10 days? mom..you have to go to work. How are you making money? we talked about this, nothing is wrong with you, stop feeling sorry for yourself you have to go.” you shook your head, slightly raising your voice, you were a broken record, this wasn’t a conversation you hadn’t had before. You began stress cleaning, throwing out all the bottles of soda and beer, and the ash from her burnt out cigarettes, as she followed you around like a lost puppy scared of you being disappointed in her. 

“Well honey, you don’t know how i feel!, i need to ask a favor.” you heard her sheepish voice behind you, 

“What this time, mom.” you slammed the bottle down, turning to her. 

“I need to borrow some money, just until i get paid, i nee-” you cut her off abruptly, rolling your eyes again at her request. 

“NO! How many fucking time do i have to tell you i am not supporting your habit, you would have money if you went to work once in awhile.” you reprimanded, knowing this was just going to start another fight. And you bit the bait. 

“Well fine then, let’s see when you need help, treating your own mother like trash. You fucking bitch, you’re just like your father!” she screamed out, nothing you haven’t heard before. This was just kid talk to you, she’s said much worse, but you weren’t going to stick around to get verbally abused much longer. 

Your mothers screamed filled the house as you put your shoes back on, abruptly leaving the house, and slamming the door on your way out. You needed to get away, and you always went to the same place every time. Your company, nobody would be there past 6, and you had the key. That was your place to go when these things happened, you didn’t really have anywhere else to wait out the war. So you did just that, drove your way back to your job. 

//

You had turned the key into the door, looking around, nobody was in sight. You put the security code in, making sure the alarm didn’t go off as you came in. They had given you the key only a few months ago, finally letting you open and close the place as they deemed fit. 

You walked yourself over to your desk, the automatic lights turning on for you as you walked through the establishment. You sat down at your desk, taking a deep breath, trying to find some sort of peace. Your mind rushed with different options, no option wasn’t already thought of. You needed to get away from her, the situation was toxic, but somewhere deep down you needed her. 

You spent some time organizing your desk, perusing through your calendar, all of these meetings were with Michael now. Everything was relating to Michael, it was all about him and his stupid fucking face, and his stupid hair that curled perfectly in the right places, and his stupid god damn mysterious talk, who did he think he was? Switching things up, making your safe place something that was now feared, you wanted to know more. Know anything about it, and just like that, and idea had popped into your head. You looked to your right, sheepishly eyeing his door, the lights were off, it had to be locked though, right?  _You should check…yeah, just double check._ You thought to yourself.

You began walking to his door, standing in front of it hesitantly, building the courage to even try the handle. I mean,  _why not try? He definitely locked it. It’s locked. L-O-C-K-E-D._ Your mind was speaking to itself, finding any words to encourage you to tug at that handle. And when you did, you heart thumped in your ears, feeling it open up, letting you, just what you hadn’t hoped for. 

_“well…it’s unlocked, i really shouldn’t go in though”  
_

You weren’t listening to your own mind trying to help you. Your body was not cooperating with your mind, you threw yourself into the empty room, the lights automatically going on, and you stared at an empty room. 

It was…normal. A few papers on the wall, completely organized, it seems as if his computer was also still on. You looked around the room, trying to find anything that was not normal, you walked over to his desk, the file you had gotten for him was open, so you just peeked into it, not like you haven’t seen any of the information before. 

You still wondered why he wanted all this information on someone named Timothy Campbell, he seemed like an ordinary kid, nothing you could pin point that would make him investigate-able? You put down the papers to his file, finally feeling your innate detective skills kick in. You’ve watched way too many detective shows, loving the feeling of being close to finding out information that you shouldn’t. 

You leaned over the desk, grabbing hold of the apple laptop that was so conveniently left open, inviting you to look at. Moving it over to you, your eyes fell upon his emails. The one up was his sent message to Jeff, your eyes got as far as to read about bunkers, until you heard the door behind you spring open. 

You spun around fast, your heart already beating a mile a minute as you came face to face with Michael himself, holding a coffee in his hand. His eyes squinted at you, licking his lips as you could see his brain try and pick apart this situation. You both stood quiet for a moment, you knew how bad this looked, i mean, it was bad. You didn’t want to give him any other reasons to be mad at you.  _Shit_. You’re definitely fired now.  _Or worse_.

“Michael I–” 

“Shut up.” 

“No, plea-”

“I said, shut up. Please, take a seat, y/n.”


	3. Chapter 3

_Fuck. Shit._  A string of curses ran through your mind as you finally were taking in how fucked you were. Michael had caught you basically breaking into his office, and just about to snoop through his private laptop. You truly did not know how to get yourself out of this one. And he certainly wasn’t letting you out of here without an explanation, making you shut up and sit at the chair across from him.

He sat down on his end, putting down his cup of coffee, not making any expression at all. Moving his laptop back the position he had left it before you came along, he was thinking of ways to go about this. He knew you had little to no idea who he really was, you were one of the only ones-if not  _thee_  only one who didn’t know his true form. Why he was truly here, why he took over the company and became everyones new boss. He thought about treading lightly over the subject, should he let you know at all? Should he cut his losses and kill you now? His Ms. Mead always said, if somethings not working, best thing to do is get rid of it. 

“Y/N….” his voice smoothly sung your name, you took a harsh breath in ready to plead your case to him. He could tell by the way your face was contorting with nerves that you were fearful of him. He sighed at the though to himself, watching your gears turning at why he stopped speaking. He wanted to be feared, but for a reason unbeknown to him his stomach turned at the thought of you fearing him. Something about you hit a soft point on him. 

“I’m not angry with you, y/n. I understand, we all get curious. You could have just came to me first before sneaking into my office, but–please, elaborate on why you chose that path.” you were surprised at how well he was taking this, he crossed his hands, waiting for you to respond. You were dumbfounded at yourself, why did you decide to try and rummage through his stuff? 

“Michael…” you could have called it a whine. “Michael- i’m in the fucking dark here. Nobody tells me shit. I’m stressed out, and all of a sudden some new dude comes into the picture, fucking EVERYTHING up, making any and all fear him, and everyone seems to know more than what i do. It’s like people know who you are? You can’t blame me for wanting to know more. People are scared to even speak to you?  _Who are you?_ ” 

It was simply put, word vomit. Your eyes widened at your sudden outburst, watching as Michael took every word in, not giving you any reaction to feed off of. Not letting you know whether you crossed a line or not. His stoic figure just sat across from you, eyeing you as you spoke. Biting his bottom lip at how crazy you got, he’s gotta say, he didn’t expect this reaction at all, but he didn’t mind it. 

“So much anger…” he started, eyes squinting at you while he head was tilted to one side, taking you all in. “ _Odd_ ,- a theme of your…tantrum was that i’m…feared?–Yet you’re speaking to me as if that were untrue. Are you scared?” he leaned over the desk, his hands still crossed on the table–”And, might i add, shouldn’t  _i_  be the one angry at  _you_  for barging into my office to dig up dirt on me?” 

You shook your head in annoyance at his reply, pretentious as ever, you stared at him long enough for him to feel satisfied, knowing he stumped you for just a little while. Although, he missed the sound of your voice, and the way your eyes burned with hatred. You hated him, and he knew it. Even so, he’d still keep you on his good side. 

“God…my  _tantrum_? Please, you walk around here like some arrogant dick who thinks the world owns him something, so entitled…and no, i’m  **not**  scared, and certainly not of  _you_.” your voice defiant as ever, it’s like you went from one argument to another, your home isn’t safe. And neither is your work.

“Maybe, y/n…you should be.” his voice lower than before, eyes dark as they stare you down vilely, disgusted at how you described him, he could jump over the table now and choke you just until you learned your lesson. But- would you ever?…Learn your lesson that is, he wished you saw the bigger picture. What he was set out to really do. You just think he’s some asshole rich guy who took over a company, oh how wrong you are. 

You were taken back by his reply, slowly sinking into your chair, feeling your stomach swirl with anxiety, your heart picked up a bit. 

“And why do you think i should be, Michael?” you questioned, crossing your arms and pretending you didn’t want to crumble in front of him, knowing you may not enjoy his answer. 

He laughed at your question, leaning back in his chair, and placing his hands on the edge of the table. 

“You  _really_ wanna know what i think?” he raised his eyebrow, a smirk forming on his lips and he rose from his seat, taking small strides over to you, until his back was firmly against his own desk, looking down at where you were seated.

“I think you build your walls high, so people don’t see what’s really going on with you.” the words cut sharp, looking into his eyes, feeling your heart sink knowing exactly what he was referring to. It’s like he pushed through every boundary you had set for yourself. How did some stranger get this much emotion out of you in so little time, it’s like, his voice, the way he speaks, it feels different. He feels different. 

“I don’t know what you mean, Mi-” 

“Cut the bullshit, tell  _me_  who  _you_  really are.”- how did he turn the tables on you so quickly? questioning you on what you had wanted to know from him. It didn’t make sense in your head, but you had no one to talk to about your life, nobody who really cared, but you came to terms with that. So why were you crumbling at the hands of Michael Langdon. 

“You know who i am. You probably have my file too.” your last act of defiance, not wanting to show any sign of weakness, such an exhausting attribute. 

“No. Tell me why you’re really here, y/n.” he was still towering over you, his curly blonde locks parted perfectly to the sides of his face, his cheekbones sharp, especially at the angle you were looking at him from. His blue eyes found themselves searching your soul for any and all of your emotions, ripping and pulling them from you. 

You finally sighed, breathing out heavy as you fell even more into your chair, looking down as your eyes started to water. Feeling all the shit you tried pushing down day after day, feeling as if he was forcing it out of your mouth. 

“It’s my mother.” you tried to stop, you really did. You didn’t want to say anything else, he didn’t care, but, he presented you the opportunity and you needed to let it out. 

“She’s incredibly stressful, she bleeds me dry. I’m not sure how much longer i can put up with her.” you finally let it out, feeling like pounds were lifted off your chest, you watched as his eyes followed yours, his face twisting sympathetically, 

He knew she didn’t want to say any of this, but she needed to. She needed someone to listen, and he was doing exactly that, feeling as if he should show some sort of affection, an embrace, he saw the tears threatening to leak from her eyes, finally seeing her so vulnerable made his heart twitch, feeling the little humanity left in him rise. Wanting to help her, heal her pain, but he couldn’t, he couldn’t get himself involved with a human, let alone one who is not familiar with his prophecy. 

“You shouldn’t let people who treat you that way, look what she does to you. Makes you want to be here, instead of home.”- he felt silly for even giving this advice, he could relate to having a shitty mother, his tried to kill him,-

“No, she’s my mom. I have to put up with it. She’s blood.” you were basically convincing yourself why you had to put up with it,- because you didn’t want to truly admit you were scared to be alone. 

“Blood doesn’t mean they truly care for you.” he moved closer to you, his hand on either side of your chair, leaning down to meet your face, his eyes scanning you, taking your cheek in one of his hands, feeling you lean into it as he wiped a stain of your tear away. Feeling the veil from your mind open up, looking in to find so much pain, so much pain he could see himself relating to, he was seeing so much until you pulled away, pushing him back and walking towards the door. 

“Whatever.-” you tried fixing yourself, pulling your hair behind your ears and wiping your eyes, sniffling as well. 

Michael crossed his arms, rolling his eyes at your actions, hoping you would give up the facade and let him help you. He wanted to, so badly, help you. 

“I don’t wanna talk about this. You overstepped, do i still have a job?” your bratty attitude back into play, pretending everything that just happened was a figment of your imagination. 

Michael nodded at you, seemingly annoyed, and you decided that was your cue to leave, running to your desk to take whatever you had left behind so you could get the hell out of this place and away from him. No matter what he said, or how caring he seemed to be back there, you still hated his guts. He couldn’t say a few dr.phil lines and get you to fall at his feet like the others. You wouldn’t let Michael Langdon make you become some pitiful girl who lived to serve him as a boss. 

//

You were happy to see your house, even though it was like leaving a battle to come to a war. You wanted to see your bed, and let this day be over. Never expecting this to happen again, you would have to find a different safe place. 

Keys dangling in your hand as you opened the door, thinking your mother would be on the couch, you didn’t see any signs of her. The house still looked like when you left it an hour or two ago, you were confused, knowing your mother would usually be on the couch drinking at this hour. 

“Mom?” you screamed out, waiting for her angry reply. But it never came. 

You walked yourself up the stairs, your eyes flashed to the bathroom door, closed shut but light was peeking through the slight opening at the bottom. You shook your head, getting ready for another altercation with her, walking towards the door to open it, only getting it so far, feeling a large object blocking it from completely opening.

“Mom?” your puzzled eyes looked at the sink, seeing a container of pills, empty, sitting still, your mind wrapped itself around the idea.  _oh god_. You tried pushing the door, but were still surprised to feel it stuck. Your eyes looked down at what had been blocking the path, feeling yourself sick, tears swelling up, your heart sank, and your lips quivered with realization,

“MOM!” 


End file.
